‘Is it right?’
‘Is it right for you? Will it flatter you? Ignore what the magazines have told you is all the rage this season, ignore what you feel comfortable in, and certainly never, ever buy anything you think will fit if you lose five pounds. If you can follow all those rules, you will only ever buy clothes that show you off to your best.’
‘But Georgia, they cost—’
The old woman held up a finger.
‘Price is irrelevant. If you buy only classic, quality pieces you will have a much smaller wardrobe, but it will be a wardrobe of clothes you wear. Expensive they may be, but they will be clothes you look forward to wearing. And – this is the most important thing to remember – just by getting dressed in the right clothes each morning, you will not only look like a million dollars, you will feel it too.’
/> Amy was about to argue that it was hard to look like a millionaire on her meagre clothes budget when she noticed that Georgia was already moving back downstairs to the shoes. Her stomach gave a jolt. Oh God, she doesn’t expect me to choose a pair without looking at the price, does she? I’ll be working double shifts at the Forge until next Thanksgiving.
‘Size seven?’ asked Georgia absently.
‘Six,’ replied Amy, picking up a hot-pink strappy heels and sighing. She had a soft spot for anything high and strappy. Her greatest ever bargain was a pair of sparkly Gina heels she had found in a charity shop in Chelsea, which she had worn and worn until the straps had literally fallen apart in her hands, because they made her feel as sexy as Beyoncé even if she was only doing the ironing.
But as she looked up, she saw Georgia shaking her head. One look told her to put the pink shoe back down. Instead she held aloft a black, mid-heel suede pump scooped low, with a pointed toe.
Amy couldn’t help wrinkling her nose.
‘Try these,’ ordered Georgia.
‘I’m not sure they’re me,’ said Amy diplomatically.
‘Why ever not?’ asked Georgia with surprise.
‘Well, I don’t work in an office.’
‘A shoe like this shouldn’t be hidden under a desk,’ gasped her friend. ‘They are special-occasion shoes.’
Amy smiled weakly, remembering her last big night out. The time before the Tower of London party. She’d gone clubbing in King’s Cross with some guys from the Forge – their unofficial works night out. The floor had been sticky, beer had been flying everywhere, but at least she’d been wearing trainers. Special-occasion shoes like the ones Georgia was holding wouldn’t have made it through the night in one piece, and if she turned up to the Forge in them, Cheryl would think she was on her way to a job interview. No, without Daniel in her life, shoes like this didn’t have any place in her closet.
‘Just try them,’ said Georgia more kindly as the assistant brought over the other shoe.
As Amy slipped them on, she overheard a customer asking for three pairs of the same suede moccasin in size eight, telling the assistant to send one pair to her New York apartment, one to the house in Houston and the other to the ski lodge in Aspen.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ said Georgia as the customer moved to the cash desk. ‘It’s easy to look that elegant when you have an unlimited budget. Well, here’s a secret. Stylish women don’t have to spend a fortune. They just have to take the time to find their own style.’
Amy was only half listening. She couldn’t believe how great her whole leg looked in the plain black shoe, a shoe that on any other occasion she would have overlooked, even if it was half the price.
‘I thought they would suit you,’ said Georgia firmly, motioning to the assistant to put them in the box.
Amy resisted smiling. She couldn’t believe she was getting fashion advice from a seventy-something.
‘Now back upstairs.’
Amy did as she was told and followed Georgia into a room where there were mannequins adorned in sumptuous gowns. She walked around, trailing her fingers across the fabric, imagining herself dressed for a ball. She was beginning to relax and enjoy herself.
‘Oh wow, look at the feathers sewn into the skirt! It’s like Tallulah Bankhead meets Swan Lake.’
‘I didn’t realise that young people were aware of Tallulah Bankhead,’ smiled Georgia.
‘My nona – my grandma – was a big fan, had all her videos. She always told a story about how she had met her once, uptown in some speakeasy in Harlem, but I’m not sure Nona was really old enough. It was a nice story, though.’
Georgia sat down on a long sofa and Amy joined her.
‘I think I could set up home in this place,’ said Amy.
Georgia smiled.